Trim fastenings for shelving unit

ABSTRACT

LIGHTWEIGHT KNOCKDOWN STEEL SHELVING WITH BOX CHANNEL EDGE TRIM INSERTS FROM FINISHING STRIPS HAVING A REVESE INNER FLANGE PROVIDED WITH YIELDING TABS AT EACH END ADAPTED TO ENGAGE BETWEEN A PAIR OF UPRIGHT SUPPORT MEMBERS TO ENCLOSE THE END OF THE SUPPORT MEMBERS, RETAIN AND COVER ANY PANEL MEMBERS THEREBETWEEN AND COVER THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN THE SHELF END AND THE PANEL. THE TABS ARE SO POSITIONED AS TO BE HIDDED IN USE, AND ELIMINATE ANY TENDENCY TO SPREAD THE END WALLS OF THE BOX CHANNEL STRIPS.

1971 |.J. FERDINAND EI'AL TRIM FASTENINGS FOR SHELVING UNIT Filed Jan. 26, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (IO (I3 29 I 1 F I a} \s 0 I2- -1 Q I} $514194? I as w FIG 5 '2 8| I4 no 74 66 H6 64 r 70 1s 5e 26 34 7e 92 781" L]\\\ 8 6 l 5o 6 PG.

4 mvl-ji-J'n IRS 8 IRWIN .1. FERDINAND 13y IRWIN R. KULBERSH United States Patent O 3,620,176 TRIM FASTENIN GS FOR SHELVING UNIT Irwin J. Ferdinand, Glencoe, and Irwin R. Kulbersh, Morton Grove, Ill., assignors to The Hirsh Company, Skokie, Ill.

Filed Jan. 26, 1970, Ser. No. 5,558 Int. Cl. A47!) 3/06 US. Cl. 108153 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE CROSS REFERENCES Reference is made to application Ser. No. 873,013, Ferdinand and Kulbersh.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the art of knockdown steel shelving it is known to use specially designed fixtures and cleats to hold the shelves to the uprights, provide for their adjustability without disturbing adjacent shelves and at the same time preserve the rigidity and strength of the shelving units. Criteria of the designs are lightness in weight, rigidity, appearance and ease of assembly and disassembly. Consideration must be given to metal wall thicknesses, shipping weights and adaptability of the design to existing sheet metal forming machinery with least expense in jigs and dies. Provision for side or back panels in the structure without alteration of the basic design or diminution of rigidity presents a particularly diflicult problem where a number of close-fitting matched parts are used. Any finishing strips that are attached to the elongated uprights must not introduce distorting stresses in the structure and they must have the rigidity, strength, pleasing appearance and versatility of an integral part of the assembly. Usually the provision for quick assembly of the trim parts introduces potential areas where rigidity may be lacking or Weakness incurred. The instant invention overcomes these and related difiiculties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides, in one aspect, a box channel finishing strip for metal furniture and shelving and the like to cover and rigidify corners and edges where fastening clips, corner securing means and corner inserts fit and bias the juncture of a cut-out corner of a box flanged shelf with a spotted upright support member and may also support and retain a panel member therein. Moreover, the invention relates to such trim members adapted to be easily assembled and disassembled wherein the fastening means are not only hidden from ordinary view but snap onto the corner assembly in a facile manner. In accordance with this invention a pair of box channel trim memebrs having a longitudinal reverse inner flange is provided with tabs at the end to engage the opposite edges or sides of a pair of upright members. In such structures the fastening clips are used at each cut-out corner of the box flanged shelf and are held against the inside corner of the shelf channels in such a manner as to engage the panel edges therebetween. The plastic corner inserts pre- 3,620,176 Patented Nov. 16, 1971 ice viously deemed necessary to close the upper end of the corner posts are no longer necessary. As the corner or edge trim members of this invention are snapped into place the tabs simultaneously bias the slotted wall of the corner posts against the outer surface of the panel in cooperation With the fastening clip. This forms an easily assembled, rigid, neat appearing enclosed shelving module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front plan view of an assembled shelf module embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner of the shelf module as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIG. 3 of the underside of the corner;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the outside edge of the finishing strip of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the finishing strip of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the inner side of the finishing strip of this invention; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a corner assembly of this invention with the parts partially cut away to show the structure.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT .12 attached in a manner to be described. The back panel 13 (FIG. 1) or in the alternative, the side or end panels 14 (FIG. 2) are inserted and secured within the slots 18 (see FIGS. 4 and 6) of the box channel uprights 12 in their proper orientation. The slots 18 extend the lengths of the uprights 12. The finishing strips 20 of this invention are provided to cover the juncture of the topmost shelf and a side panel and are positioned along the top edges of the panels 14, for example. The finishing strips 20 are shown in more detail in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, to be subsequently described, after the parts defining the environment with which they cooperate has been set form.

For this purpose reference is made to FIGS. 4 and 6 showing the means used to attach the shelves 10 to the uprights 12 which comprises a tabbed fastening clip 24 and a suitable securing means such as the screw 26. The clip 24 is the same as the clip described in detail in Pat. 3,255,722 and provides a planar body portion 28 with a narrow web or off-set shoulder portion 30 extending at an obtuse angle from the body portion 28 and forming the planar body portion 32 which is parallel to and extending away from the body portion 28. The laterally extending flange portion 34 formed by a right angle bend, serves as the bottom of the clip and extends beyond the sides of the body portion 62. The flange 34 has a bent up tab '36, at both extremities disposed at right angles thereto and preferably off-set at an angle of about 45 to the plane of the body portion 32 (see FIG. 10). The tabs 36 each have a camming edge 38 which serves as a guide for the tabs when the clip is slipped into position and are notched at 40 on their remote edges to prevent unintentional release.

The top portion of the clip 24 is provided with the laterally extending flange 41 extending substantially parallel to the plane of the bottom flange 34. The flange 41 terminates at one end in the upstanding tab 42 and at the other end in a straight edge 44, both preferably disposed at an angle of about 45 to the plane of the body portion '32. Thus the tabs 36 and 42 are coplanar on one side of the clip 24 and the tab 36 and the edge 44 are coplanar with each other at the other side of the clip.

The shelf has the end rolled edge flanges 48 and the elongated side box flanges 50, the latter provided with the raised rolled top edges 52 which serve as a retaining edge for items placed on the shelf. These flanges are cut out at each corner, as indicated at the edges 54 and 56, at right angles to receive the uprights 12 therein. The end rolled flanges have the slots 58 spaced from the edge 54 while the box flanges 50 have the slots 60 spaced from the edge 56. The box flanges have the square openings 62 cut into the inside wall and spaced from the edge 54.

Each of the posts 12 is formed substantially rectangular in cross section and has the outer major wall 64, the intersecting minor walls 66 and 68, and the inner minor walls 70 and 72 on each side of the slot 18, with the longitudinal recessed corners 74 and 76, either or both of which have the spaced bore holes 78 to receive the screws 26 of the fastening clips 24.

The fastening clip 24 is attached (FIGS. 4 and 6) to the shelf by fitting the tabs 36 on the bottom flange 34 of the clip into the corresponding slots '58 and 60 of the flanges of the shelf 10 while placing the top flange 42 into the opening 62 so that it fits up into the rolled edge 52. At the same time the edge 44 engages the inside top corner of the end flange 48. The fastening clip 24 is attached to the upright 12 by threading the screw 26 through an aperture 78 guided by the recessed corner 76. The clips used on the front corners of the shelves have their flanges 42 and edges 44 reversed from those of the clips used on the rear corners of the shelves.

As the screws 26 are tightened the posts 12 are pulled into each cut-out corner 5456 so that the minor wall 72 is flush against the edge 54 and the minor wall 68 is flush against the edge 56. Simultaneously the tabs or flanges 36 are forced against the ends of the slots 58 and 60, the edge 44 corners into the top part of the box flange 48 and the flange 42 squares within the top rolled edge 52, so that a rigid connection is made. With the panel member 14 in place within the slots 18 of parallel end uprights 12, the tightening of the screws 26 brings the uprights together so that the outer edges 80 of the panels are engaged against the inside surfaces of the major walls 64 of the uprights, as shown in FIG. 4. This relationship exists along the inside wall of each corner post and locks the panel in place. When all of the shelves in the assembly have been tightened in place between four corner posts the assembly is ready for the insertion of a finishing strip at each top end.

The structure of the finishing strips 20 is shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. Each finishing strip 20 is preferably formed from a flat metal blank by stamping and bending and is provided with the planar top-portion 82 which is substantially rectangular in shape and has the depending shallow inner flange 84 and the depending wider outer flange 86. In other words, the outer flange 86 has a greater vertical dimension than the inner flange 84.

The finishing strips 20 have the end walls 88 formed by bending the metal blank along the corner edges 90 and folding the tabs 92 and 94 inwardly to form a box end at each end of the strip. The tabs 94 are shaped to provide the diagonal cut-off edges 96 and the vertical edges 98 which fold into the plane of, and at the ends of, the outer flange 86, the latter having a matching notch 100 on each side to receive the tabs 94. Thus 4 the edges 96 and 98 are spaced slightly from the edge of the angle notch during the folding operation and the resulting crack or seam does not require welding and is barely visible. The tabs 92 are bent inwardly into the plane of the inner flange 84 forming the seams 101 and are spaced from the ends 102 of this flange.

The flange or wall 86 has the integral reverse or inwardly directed flange 104 with the straight edge 106 extending substantially parallel to the inner flange 84. The flange 86 is cut out at the ends, as indicated by the notch 108 to form the end tabs 110, each provided with the square end or edge 112. The tabs 110 are spaced from the inner surface 114 of the end wall 88 a distance less than the total distance between the minor walls 70 of the uprights 12 to be engaged. The total length of the flange 104 between each square tip 112 is less than the distance between the innermost wall sections 70 of two uprights 12 at the end of a shelf assembly. The space between the ends 102 and the tabs 92 is long enough to encompass and cover the protruding top rolled edges 52 of the box flanges 50. The aforesaid dimensions are subject to variation with different design of uprights and shelf.

The tip ends 112 of the bendable tabs 110 are spaced from the inner surfaces 114 of the end walls 88 a distance less than the distance between the minor wall 70 and the major wall 64 of each upright 12. The reverse flange 104 is about the same width as the distance between the plane of the outer wall of the panel 14 and the plane of the outer surface of the walls 66 of the uprights 12. Also the depth of the top surface 82 of the trim member 20 is greater than the width of the uprights 12 along the major wall 64.

Thus, to complete the assembly, the trim piece 20 is brought to the position shown in FIG. 10 with the clip 24, the panel 14, and the pair of end uprights 12 in place, and placed over the corner of the assembly, over the edge of the panel with the ends 88 overlapping the outer walls 64 of the posts 12. This places the two tabs 110 upon the top edges of the wall sections 70 of each upright and, by applying hand pressure to each end of the trim piece, it snaps downwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. The corner posts 12 are in fixed relationship at the cut-out corners of the shelf and thus the pressure of snapping the trim piece 20 into place causes the tabs 110 to bend upwardly as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and bite into the walls 70 to hold the trim piece firmly as part of the assembly. In this position the notch defined by the end 102 and the tab 92 encompasses and closes around the top rolled edge 52 so that there are no unsightly cracks or gaps at the corners; and the end walls 88 of the trim piece are spaced from the inside of the side walls of the uprights 12 as indicated at 116, and are free of any tension. Also the flange 84 comes to rest upon the top surface of the shelf 10 as shown in FIG. 6 and covers the notch edge 54, while the side wall 92 encloses the outer edge and corner of the wall 68 of the upright and is spaced from the box flange 50 as indicated at 118. In addition to these relationships, the inner surface of the flange 86 is positioned against the outer wall 66 of the post 12, as shown in FIG. 4, while the under surface of the strip 20 fits down against the top of the posts 12 (FIG. 5). Thus, these end walls play no part in holding the trim piece in place and there is no tension on the folded seams 80 which member do not have to be welded. The cost of fabrication is reduced and the appearance of the assembly is enhanced as a result. FIGS. 4 and 6 show alternate structures in the sense that in the latter tfigure the flange 86 is spaced as indicated at from the wall 66 of the post 12 while in FIG. 4 these parts are flush with each other. Either structure can be used.

What is claimed is:

1. A shelving unit wherein a top shelf having depending flange members at the sides and ends with cut-out corners is supported between a pair of upright tubular support members at the cut-out corners, said support members having slotted walls facing each other and a panel member enclosing the space between the support members with the outer edges within the opposed slots thereof;

a trim member comprising an elongated member adapted to cover the ends of said tubular support members and the juncture of said shelf member and said panel member;

said trim member having a depending flange along its inner edge to engage the top of said shelf member, and

an outer side wall having an inner reverse flange with bendable end tabs;

the distance between the ends of said bendable tabs being greater than the distance between the inner opposed walls of said support members;

whereby said trim member is adapted to be snap-fitted over the ends of said support members with said tabs forced into a bent position with the ends of the tabs engaging against said opposed walls of said tubular members.

2. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

said trim member includes depending end and side walls enclosing the sides of said support members at their open ends.

3. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 2 wherein:

said depending end walls of said trim member are provided with foldable wall tabs on each side;

said depending side walls of said trim member include openings at their ends to receive said wall tabs in folded condition with at least one edge of each tab being in stress-relieved substantially coplanar relationship with an edge of its respective opening and each of the innermost edges of said tabs is spaced from the ends of said reverse flange; and

said bendable end tabs of said reverse flange hold said trim member thereon with said depending end and side walls thereof spaced from the outer walls of said support members.

4. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 3 wherein:

the width of said reverse flange is substantially equal to the depth of said slotted wall against which the bendable tabs engage whereby the outer side wall of said trim member is substantially flush with the outer Wall of said upright tubular support member.

5. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 3 wherein:

said depending side walls adjacent said depending flange are substantially contiguous to the side flange of said shelf.

6. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

the inner edge of said reverse flange of said trim member engages against the outside wall of said panel.

7. A shelving unit including the combination of a shelf supportde at one end by a pair of upright support members with the surface of the shelf being substantially co-planar with the top ends of said support members;

said support members having slotted Walls facing each other with an inner wall opposite said slot;

a panel member enclosing the space between said support members having its outer edges within said opposed slots;

corner fastening means joining said shelf to each of said support members whereby the edges of said panel are held against said inner walls of said support members;

a trim member having an elongated top surface with integral elongated side flanges and end walls adapted to encompass the ends of said support members and the junctures with said shelf member;

one of said side flanges including an inwardly directed reverse flange being longer than the distance between the slotted walls of said support members and having projecting ends whereby the ends thereof are engageable with said slotted walls to provide the sole support for said trim member thereon while maintaining the end walls thereof in stress-relieved enclosing relationship with the sides of said support members.

8. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 7 in which said one side flange of said trim member is an outer flange and said ends of said flange are provided with bendable tips to simultaneously engage the slotted walls of said support members.

9. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 8 in which said one side flange is a reverse flange the inner edge of whch is engageable with the outer planar surface of said panel.

10. A shelving unit in accordance with claim 7 in which the top of said support members contact the bottom side of said elongated top surface of said trim member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,990,756 2/1935 Saaf 52 71s X 3,255,722 6 1966 Ferdinand et al. 248-250 X 3,479,975 11/1969 Ferdinand et al. 10s 153 X JAMES C. MITCHELL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

